1pt1 Female of the Species
by Lamby
Summary: A Bayville old girl and her hotheaded friend arrive in town looking for answers to dark questions and to show the boys on both sides how things should be done!
1. 01

Disclaimer: I do not own and am making no money from the X-Men. Vixen belongs to her creator Corrinth. Blaze is mine. That is all.  
  
A/N: Hiya folks! I've been writing X-Men the Movie fics for a while now, but too much daytime kiddies TV has got me hooked on X-Men Evolution. In Corrinth's and my movie timeline we share and swap characters. So when I got to think how to put my OC Blaze into an Evolution setting, it was only natural that Vixen came with. Should make for an interesting plot anyways...Reviews are always welcome (  
  
Scene One  
  
The sun was setting, oozing over the Bayville skyline, covering the town in a blanket of succulent red. A light wind blew, rustling the leaves on the trees around the parked car. It was a sleek silver-grey convertible, top down at the end of a sultry warm day. The driver was a lithe but thoughtful looking blonde, long hair pulled back into a ponytail. There was an aura of tenseness about her, her lips parted in a silent snarl, predatory eyes flashing as she wondered again about the wisdom of her being here. But she needed answers, and here was where she'd find them...Her long, feminine fingers gripped the steering wheel in a death-like grip.  
  
The passenger did not sit, aware of but detached from her friend's emotions. She'd be here if and when the Vixen needed to talk; it was why she'd come on this journey after all. So instead she stood in her seat, chin resting on hands that in turn rested on the windshield of the expensive sports car. Red hair in untameable curls floated around her like tendrils, her lips were pursed as she soaked up the last ounces of heat from the day. With a low sigh, she broke the silence between them for the first time in hours. Her accent was English, her tone excitable like fire near dry tinder.  
  
"You know I could quote back at you any one of a thousand of your infamous wolf philosophies to get you out of this poignant mood, but how about a Blaze original for a change? Something along the lines of 'Let tomorrow's worries worry you tomorrow.'"  
  
"You're probably right Blaze." Vixen sighed, relaxing her grip on the wheel and allowing herself to anticipate with excitement the drawing in of the night. It was at night she felt the most alive.  
  
"You know I am." Blaze laughed heartily. "And anyway I know you wont let me paint your home town red without you!"  
  
"Personally I'd be more worried about you burning the house down." A twinkle of good humour returned to Vixen's eyes as her friend sat back down besides her. The car's engine roared into life. "If only Bayville knew what was about to hit it..."  
  
"They wouldn't let us in Vixen. Trust me, this is going to be a homecoming to remember!"  
  
(Roll titles..................) 


	2. 02

Disclaimer: I do not own and am making no money from the X-Men. Vixen belongs to her creator Corrinth. Blaze is mine. It's that simple.  
  
A/N: Reviews are always welcome (  
  
Scene Two  
  
The nightclub doorman asked to see their ID, just a precaution apparently. Too many mutant kids around these days, have to try and avoid trouble. Vixen didn't pay much attention to his excuses; she had little to hide and she was perfectly old enough to drink. He frowned at her driver's license, noting how she covered her surname casually with a stray finger, and then nodded her on in. Blaze on the other hand had left everything that was remotely truthful about her behind a long time ago, including her real name and age. Every ID she owned was a clever forgery, and Vixen wasn't quite sure if she approved or not.  
  
"Don't give me that disapproving look. What else would you have me do, stay home and be bored to death?" Blaze warned when they finally completed running the gauntlet to the bar. "How's anyone gonna know I'm not quite twenty-one yet? I'm not stupid enough to get that rat-legged I confess. Now do you want vodka or tequila?"  
  
"Both." Vixen replied, leaning backwards on the bar as music throbbed through the air. She was determined to do as Blaze suggested, let tomorrow be until the hangover was too painful to ignore.  
  
"Now that's the Ilehana Xavier I know and admire!" Blaze chirped sweetly. Vixen scowled at the use of her real name in her hometown. Behind Blaze a lean young man propping up the bar like he was born there became suddenly attentive. Ilehana scowled as his eyes ran over her and her friend a little too slowly, mutant eyes that made her wonder briefly how he'd got past the prejudice doorman.  
  
"You two lovely ladies gonna let me pay for your drinks?" He offered casually as the barman set the glasses down.  
  
"Get stuffed." Ilehana told him sharply as Blaze shook her head soulfully and reached into her tight jeans pocket for her wallet, meeting the stranger's strange eyes with an apologetic grin. Vixen shook her head, Blaze toyed with men like a cat with a mouse, and it was too cruel to watch. She took her drinks and left.  
  
"Your friend got claws, ain't she?" The man asked the redhead as Blaze paid the barman. Blaze snorted her laughter but didn't reply. Plucking her drinks off the counter she followed Vixen away through the crowds. He had no idea...  
  
A Xavier? It wasn't a common name, was it? In a town this size it just couldn't be a coincidence. The mutant named Gambit smiled to himself and took another swig of his beer. His eyes followed the redhead in the strappy black top and blue jeans that left just enough to the imagination as she crossed the dance floor. Maybe tonight wouldn't be as boring as he'd thought...  
  
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"Can't sleep Chuck?" Wolverine acknowledged his friend Professor Charles Xavier as he approached. Somewhere about an owl hooted, but otherwise the grounds of the Xavier Institute were deathly still.  
  
"I sense... something." Xavier began, a frown on his face as he wondered how to continue. Was it wise to tell Logan who was right now dancing on the edge of Xavier's telepathic awareness? But then, forewarned was forearmed. "Its Ilehana. She's come home."  
  
Logan's eyes met the Professor's in a sudden conflict of emotions. Ilehana Xavier, telepath, animal metamorph. Fiercely territorial about her home, she had riled against her father as he began to bring strangers to live there, the X-Men. Logan understood how she felt, how he'd have felt in her shoes, but no matter what he tried to do to help Ilehana she was having none of it. He'd failed her, as had the Professor, and she'd left. What could it be that had brought her back home now?  
  
"There's something else." Logan offered at last, eyes wandering over the empty darkness. "There's a storm coming, I can smell it. A storm of fire..." 


	3. 03

Disclaimer: I do not own and am making no money from the X-Men. Vixen belongs to her creator Corrinth. Blaze is mine. Yada yada yada.  
  
A/N: Reviews are always welcome (  
  
Scene Three  
  
"You're sure?" Gambit nodded, standing to attention in Magneto's lair. His boss frowned slightly; this was interesting news, news that could prove very useful to him and his cause. "Little Ilehana Xavier home from her travels... The perfect weapon against the X-Men, a powerful telepath strong enough to rival her own father, a weapon he would not dare to harm."  
  
"You t'ink she'll join us?" Gambit broke in on Magneto's plotting. "You t'ink she'll fight against her own father?"  
  
"You tell me. You say you spoke to her, what are her reasons for coming back to Bayville? Does she still harbour her hatred of the X-Men who stole her father from her? It has been many years since she has been here, she wont even know how far her father's institute has come in that time, will she?" Magneto questioned Gambit knowing full well his man could not answer. The younger man didn't flinch though as Magneto stopped pacing and looked him hard in the eye.  
  
"It was hardly the place for soul-searchin' conversation, but I can find out."  
  
"Do that." Magneto ordered. "You say the Vixen had a friend with her? Was she a mutant too?"  
  
Gambit's eyes clouded over slightly as he recalled that aspect of the previous night. Eventually, parched from dancing, the redhead had let him buy her a drink. She'd steered their conversation like a pro, getting him to tell her more about himself than he'd wanted too. She knew his name and what his powers were. And when he'd asked her about herself, she'd put a warm finger on his lips, ran it gently down his bearded chin, his throat and down the front of his tight black t-shirt. Her gentle touch had then burnt the fabric, revealing a good few inches of his muscular chest, left a trail of blisters on his skin...  
  
"Her name's Blaze, and she's got fire powers..." That was an understatement, he was sure. The girl was dangerous. Fascinating, but dangerous.  
  
"A shame, one arrogant fire elemental is quite enough for round here. Use her as you will to get to Vixen, but then dispose of her. I don't like loose ends..."  
  
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"Hey Jean, what's up?" Scott Summers asked as he walked into the room where the telekinetic Jean Grey sat elegantly on the windowsill.  
  
"Have you seen who has just arrived?" Was her reply, indicating out the window where a silver-grey convertible was parked in front of the institute.  
  
"No, who is it? Wait, I recognise the blonde..." Scott frowned behind his shades as he watched Vixen and Blaze climb out of the car and begin ascending the steps to the front door.  
  
"It's the Professor's daughter, Ilehana Xavier." There was venom in Jean's voice; it had been her arrival at the mansion that had finally tipped Ilehana over the edge. They just did not get along.  
  
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"You're back." Logan folded his arms across his chest as Ilehana walked into the entrance hall with Blaze just behind.  
  
"Good to see you too, Logan." Ilehana smiled genuinely, knocking the Wolverine off guard. Where was the truculent, sharp-tongued girl he knew, and who on Earth was this graceful, predatory woman who met his eyes as if she expected him to back down? "It smells different here, newer. What did I miss?"  
  
"Nothin' much." Logan shrugged non-committedly, "The place took a blasting, but it's just about rebuilt now. Where you been?"  
  
"Everywhere. But what you mean is why am I back?"  
  
"And the answer is?" He unfolded his arms and flicked his eyes over to where Blaze was stood looking vaguely bored. Was all this something to do with the redhead?  
  
"I can't tell you Logan." Ilehana put a hand on Wolverine's bare arm, wishing it could be otherwise. He'd been a good friend to her in the short time she knew him; she wanted him to know she hoped nothing had changed. But that would have to wait. "Blaze?"  
  
"Hello." Blaze replied, glad her friend hadn't completely forgotten she was stood there like a sore thumb while she chatted up this Logan fellow.  
  
"You'll come pick me up? I don't know how long this will take, and I wouldn't want you just standing around..."  
  
"Causing trouble, yeah I know." Blaze laughed. "Just gimme a telepathic buzz and I'll be right back. And good luck." Ilehana nodded her agreement, heart pounding as she went for the first time in years to talk to her father. 


	4. 04

Disclaimer: I do not own and am making no money from the X-Men. Vixen belongs to her creator Corrinth. Blaze is mine. :-P  
  
A/N: Reviews are always welcome (  
  
Scene Four  
  
Blaze had barely left the building when a brown-haired young boy cut across her path, running as though his life depended on it. A dark-haired girl followed hot on his tail, shouting as she ran.  
  
"You are so toast, Bobby Drake!" The child pulled back an arm, calling on her mutant powers. A fireball shot forward as she threw it to just miss her friend, she'd never really hurt Iceman.  
  
"Omara! No!" Logan cried out from the doorway, Magma had misjudged the throw, hadn't seen the curly haired stranger in the path of her fireball. All three X-Men stopped and gasped as the fireball bore down on Blaze, then stopped, dancing at the end of her fingers.  
  
"Hum," Blaze mused appreciatively. "This is hot."  
  
"Um, hot enough to melt rock." Magma filled in, head tilted to one side as she watched Blaze caress the fireball Omara had created. "How are you doing that?"  
  
"What?" Blaze frowned, looking down on the pint-sized X-Man. "You can't control fire even though you create it?"  
  
"No." Magma's voice was turning sulky. There was only one mutant she knew who could actually get fire to do what he wanted, Magneto's henchman Pyro.  
  
"Well you got the power Small-Fry. The control will come in time, trust me." Blaze turned her palm upwards and let the fireball sit leisurely in her hand. Then she began to draw the heat and energy of the fireball into herself, adding Magma's power to her own store of energy and putting the fire out. "The only piece of advice I can give you is not to try and force it. That's when bad things happen, okay?"  
  
Magma nodded, aware as Blaze seemed not to be of Wolverine and Bobby stood watching them both with eyes goggling. Seconds later, Blaze started the car's engine and drove away.  
  
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"Dad?" It was a question asked hesitantly, unsure of the reaction in would get. Ilehana was not prepared for the answer.  
  
**My daughter. ** Charles Xavier's telepathic words communicated so much more than just a welcome. The feelings he sent along the link were of joy, pride and love so overwhelming they broke down emotional barriers Ilehana did not even know she had set up. In a second she went to him, embracing her father, not fighting the tears. She'd not left because she had fallen out with him; she had been in a no-win situation she just had to get out of. But even as she tried to explain telepathically why she had left him, he was pushing it all to one side; so glad was he to have her back.  
  
A short while later Vixen sniffed and pulled away from her father's embrace. He smiled and indicated she sit.  
  
**You've grown so beautiful. ** He told her, talking mind to mind as easily as if he were speaking aloud. **And I sense Wolverine has notice this too...**  
  
**Drop it Dad. ** But Ilehana was smiling not scowling, well used to her father's good-natured teasing on the subject of Logan. How could it feel as if no time had passed since she had last sat in her father's company?  
  
**Of course. ** He agreed, smiling too. **Perhaps instead I should be asking why you of all people have adopted a stray fire elemental? I thought you couldn't stand fire Ilehana? **  
  
**I admit it surprised me a little too, but Blaze is so honest about her powers that it's hard not to admire her. Not so long ago she was fighting and losing a daily battle to keep her powers under control. But she's learnt to accept her firepower so much it is everything she is now, if that makes sense? **  
  
**I believe it does. But you think she is still dangerous? Is that why you have come home? ** Ilehana shook her head gently at her father's questing. One step at a time.  
  
**Yes, Blaze is dangerous. But she's no more a threat than you or I. Nor is she the reason why I'm here, she's here for me, a concerned friend..... **  
  
Charles Xavier was suddenly overwhelmed with fear. What was wrong with his daughter?  
  
"I've been having dreams." Ilehana began aloud, feeling less vulnerable that way. "Nightmares so vivid its like I'm living them, like I can reach out and touch the people in the dream with my own hands. When I wake up, I remember it all perfectly and it's the same every time. I'm afraid to go to sleep, and when I explore my own mind with my telepathy I feel as though there is another's work there. Dad, I think someone has been messing with my memories..."  
  
"Tell me about the dream." The Professor encouraged, though something struck a chord deep within him and filled him with dread.  
  
"I'm small, not very old. I'm with Mom, we're shopping. Some men come into the shop and threaten the boy behind the counter. I've wandered off, talking to someone, maybe mice? Next thing I know the building is shaking, a fridge unit falls over me, protecting me, but I can hear screaming. I reach out telepathically for Mom, but..." Ilehana couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence, instead shaking stubborn tears from her cheeks. "I don't understand it, you told me Mom died in a car crash, that neither of us were there..."  
  
Charles Xavier had long known this day would come, but it didn't mean he was prepared for it. He felt ill, ashamed. How to explain?  
  
"Ilehana..." He began, waiting until she looked up at him before continuing. "You're right, someone has altered your memories. I'm ashamed to admit it but I..."  
  
"You?" Vixen froze, the betrayal cutting too deeply. "You changed my memories? Lied to me about how Mom died? How dare you!" Her anger fuelled her change; shape shifting quickly Vixen became a sleek grey wolf with black-tipped ears. The wolf shook its head with teeth bared, then darted and leaped carelessly through the open window. 


	5. 05

Disclaimer: I do not own and am making no money from the X-Men. Vixen belongs to her creator Corrinth. Blaze is mine. It's that simple.  
  
A/N: Reviews are always welcome (  
  
Scene Five  
  
"Vixen?"  
  
"Hey Logan." The woman raised her head from her hands and gave him a mournful look.  
  
"You okay?" The gruff man asked, sitting down besides Ilehana on the fallen log in the mansion's sunny grounds.  
  
"Not really" was her only reply before she sunk back into her own thoughts again. Logan didn't push her; she'd talk when she was good and ready. He just sat and waited, wondering why every time he breathed in her scent it made the hairs on the back of his neck tingle. Eventually Ilehana spoke again. "He's altered my memories, tried to block out the images of the day my mother died. I was there, Logan, but he's taken it all away..."  
  
"I presume by 'he' you mean Chuck? It ever strike you that just maybe the man has your interests at heart? He is your Dad after all." Wolverine waited for the young woman to reply, but she held her silence unsure as to whether or not she even wanted him there. But Logan had no desire to fail his friend again. "I mean, think about it Ilehana. The man had just lost his wife, can you blame him for wantin' to protect his daughter?"  
  
"There are ways and means, Logan. If I hadn't been a telepath, if my mind wasn't as strong, I may never have begun to remember..."  
  
"Hey, if you hadn't been a telepath, chances are you wouldn't have been so jealous of the time your Dad spent with Jean, tryin' to train her to have a mind as strong as yours. Maybe you wouldn't have left in the first place, grown up nice and safe here instead. Charles wouldn't have kept this from you forever; he's not that type of guy. If you'd stuck around..."  
  
"Alright, I get the point." Ilehana snapped viciously.  
  
"No, you don't." Logan enthused, wrapping a consoling arm around Ilehana's slender shoulders. "We've all missed you kid, even me. Just don't go chargin' off again any time soon, all right? Then maybe Chuck can give you some answers."  
  
Ilehana sighed heavily, enjoying the sun on her skin and the smells of the foliage around them. There had always been a kind of peace for her at the mansion, and in truth she was glad to be back. She'd known this wouldn't be easy, hadn't she? Logan said nothing more, but neither did he withdraw his arm. His reward came when Ilehana finally gave in, relaxing against his muscular body and resting her pretty head on his shoulder...  
  
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"Wow, Rogue! That is like, so you!" Kitty Pride came to lean over her friend's shoulder as Rogue pulled a glossy black long-sleeved top off a rail. The newly opened mall buzzed around them, shoppers all relieved to once again have somewhere to spend their cash, the X-girls included.  
  
"You think?" The southern belle asked, pulling out the arms of the top against her. Kitty's reply was cut off though by two more of Bayville High's finest.  
  
"Eugh! Are they gonna let just anybody shop here? I can't believe they let mutants shop with normal people..." The bleached blonde spoke as loudly as her bright pink outfit to her companion as both Kitty and Rogue bristled with anger.  
  
"I'll have that." The other girl, a brunette, snatched the top out of Rogue's hands. "Its way too classy for mutey scum like you."  
  
"Hey, you..." Rogue began, tugging at her glove, but Kitty grabbed her arm.  
  
"No Rogue, leave it." Rogue sighed heavily, dropping her fighting stance as the two girls laughed and started to leave. But as they turned a curly haired redhead with sparkling brown eyes walked straight into the brunette, knocking the top out of her hands.  
  
"Hey! Watch where you're walking idiot!" The brunette screeched.  
  
"Why?" Blaze asked, impish smile on her rosebud lips. "Is the floor going to do something interesting?" She didn't back down as the high school girl squared up to her. Instead she looked the brunette over slowly, noting the other girl had the advantage of height and weight if it came down to a fight. Just Blaze's kind of odds.  
  
"I'm gonna wipe that smile right off your face!" The brunette cried, launching a forceful push on Blaze's shoulders. Her chubby hands never even touched the mutant. Blaze grabbed her wrists in a lightning quick reaction, twisted the girl's arms the wrong way until she was yelping and kneeling on the cold shop floor. Not smiling anymore Blaze called on a touch of her mutant power, putting fire into her grip on the girl's wrists. The girl screamed.  
  
"You should learn to mind your manners, girl." Blaze spat as Rogue and Kitty eyed up the approaching security guard. "Especially around mutants." Blaze let go, sending the girl over backwards towards her watching friend. They both ran.  
  
"Is there a problem here?" The security guard put a hand on Blaze's shoulder. Blaze's Bambi eyes met the guards as she spoke in a worried voice.  
  
"Yes, I'm afraid there is. Those girls were pickpockets, I saw them taking this girl's wallet while she shopped." Blaze held up Kitty's purse whilst Shadowcat exclaimed and in defiance checked her bag. The stranger was right, that was her wallet she'd rescued.  
  
"Oh, well." The security guard dropped his hand from Blaze's shoulder and smiled shyly. "Then thank you Miss. Don't worry ladies, those girls wont be allowed back in this store again." He turned and left, bemused, as Blaze tossed Kitty's purse back to her, before retrieving the black top for Rogue.  
  
"Your friend's right." Blaze offered as a way of making conversation. "This top suits you, you should buy it."  
  
"Thanks." Rogue replied hesitantly. "But I'm flat broke already. Guess it'll have to wait until allowance day."  
  
"Then here, consider it compensation for fighting your fights for you." Blaze offered a selection of banknotes to Rogue with a wink. "It's been fun, okay?" Waiting until Rogue took the money, Blaze turned and left the store, ditching the brunette's now empty wallet in a trashcan on the way out. 


	6. 06

Disclaimer: I do not own and am making no money from the X-Men. Vixen belongs to her creator Corrinth. Blaze is mine. It's that simple.  
  
A/N: Reviews are always welcome (  
  
Scene Six  
  
"Bonjour, Cherie." Gambit greeted Blaze as he sat down opposite her. She leant back comfortably into the coffee shop's brown leather sofa, crossing her long bare legs and smiling.  
  
"I was wondering when you'd catch me up. How long have you been following me now, Gambit, half an hour?"  
  
"If you knew I was chasin' you, how come you didn't stop and wait for me?" He asked, running his eyes over her critically. Today she dressed casually, above-knee length pleated grey skirt matched perfectly with the blue-grey fitted blouse and grey-black strappy shoes. It took him a second to realise she was giving him the same judicious look. Their eyes met and they both smiled.  
  
"Because, as I know you'll agree my friend, the fun is all in the chase..." Blaze glanced about the coffee shop briefly, getting the attention of an Italian waiter. "Fabio, can I have another of your gorgeous lattes for my friend please?" The waiter obliged a little unwillingly, preferring to have Blaze's company to himself.  
  
"So, no Claws today?" He asked, referring to Ilehana.  
  
"Not today." Blaze answered. "She's got family business. Thank you Fabio." She smiled disarmingly at the waiter who muttered something flusteredly and wandered off.  
  
"She got relatives around here then? What did you say her surname was?"  
  
"Why are you so interested in Vixen, Gambit?" Blaze asked him, eyes narrowing with suspicion. "I'd happily introduce you to her, but she's already smitten on some guy named Logan, so there's no point."  
  
"I was just wonderin' how long I could expect the pleasure of your company, Cherie." Gambit filed away the information Blaze had unwittingly given him for reporting back to Magneto, whilst trying to cover his near-error. Blaze may be innocent as to Ilehana's connections to the X-Men, but she wasn't slow either. He'd have to play this one carefully.  
  
"About as long as anyone else I'm afraid." Blaze replied casually, "Until I get bored."  
  
"Then I t'ink I can guarantee we wont be partin' acquaintance just yet." Gambit smiled, red-on-black eyes sparkling wickedly. Blaze met his eyes again and smiled too, this man seemed too like her for his own good...  
  
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"Are you sure you're ready for this, Ilehana?" Charles Xavier couldn't help but feel nervous for his daughter. Old wounds reopened took the longest to heal. He'd only ever wanted to protect her, to keep her safe. It drove everything he did, everything he was. But now it seemed no plan was perfect.  
  
"I need to know, Dad." Vixen opened up her mind to him with more confidence than she really felt. Gently his telepathic self reached into the darkest corners of her memory, removing so easily the barriers he had once placed there, marvelling at how crumbled and weak they had become. He'd thought the walls he built unbreakable, but this only proved what a powerful mind Ilehana had now.  
  
Ilehana gasped, mind suddenly rolling like a ship at sea with the power of these new memories. The shop from her dreams, her mother's smile, talking telepathically to the mice... Fear paralysed her as the men entered; she knew what was coming. The boy behind the counter reacted with terror; he was a mutant! Untried and untrained he started to bring the whole building down on top of the occupants. The refrigeration unit fell, covering the child Ilehana in protective darkness. Screams ran through the air as the building crumbled. Then there was nothing.  
  
Vixen opened her eyes only slowly, feeling her father's arms wrapped protectively around her as if she still were the child in her memories. How close had she come to dying that day? If that unit hadn't fallen to protect her... Could she ever blame her father for doing what he had done to her memories? Would she have not done the same thing? And the boy, a mutant with no control over his powers, was he the reason her father had begun offering a home, training, a purpose to mutant children?  
  
Ilehana forcefully put all thoughts from her mind, and joined her father in tearful mourning once more for her mother, his wife. 


	7. 07

Disclaimer: I do not own and am making no money from the X-Men. Vixen belongs to her creator Corrinth. Blaze is mine. It's that simple.  
  
A/N: Reviews are always welcome (  
  
Scene Seven  
  
"Oh!" Jean Grey exclaimed, coming round a corner too fast and walking almost straight into Vixen. "Ilehana, hi... Um, you're back then?"  
  
"Evidently." Ilehana often marvelled at the redhead's skill for stating the obvious. "But don't worry, I'm not moving back in."  
  
"Good," Jean began, unsure of her ground as Ilehana narrowed her eyes and started to pass the telekinetic. "I mean, that you're back. Are you sure you don't want to move back in? Only the X-Men could really use your help right now and..."  
  
"Ilehana, good to see you." Scott gave Vixen a genuine smile, which she gracefully returned.  
  
"You too One-Eye. You've grown up." There was something a little too approving in the way Vixen said those words, making Jean suddenly very possessive of Scott. But Ilehana was already leaving, letting Cyclops bare the brunt of Jean's snide disapproval.  
  
"Can't you ever just play nice with Jean?" Logan asked when he caught Ilehana up. "She's not a bad kid you know."  
  
"Oh I know she's just little miss perfect. She's a better daughter to my father than I am..."  
  
"Humph," Logan stepped into pace besides Vixen. "You and I both know that's not true. How'd it go with your Dad anyway?"  
  
For a few moments Vixen didn't reply as they passed several more of the newer students at the institute who Ilehana didn't know.  
  
"Alright, I guess. My memories are my own now." There was weariness from crying too many tears in Ilehana's tone.  
  
"If you ever need to talk..." Wolverine began in an uncharacteristically altruistic tone.  
  
"I know." Ilehana smiled a tired smile at her friend. "But right now if you don't mind I think I need to be alone."  
  
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Blaze and Gambit walked zigzaggedly back to the apartment she shared with Ilehana, laughing at some half forgotten joke. They'd drank too much coffee, enjoyed a leisurely meal at a rundown diner, then as it dawned on Blaze it was getting too late for her to have to play taxi driver to Ilehana, they'd hit a particularly seedy bar where Gambit seemed almost a celebrity. Of course both were acting tipsier than they were, it was all part of the game.  
  
Yet even as he was undoubtedly enjoying himself, Gambit felt uneasy and concerned. Blaze played his games too well, she'd told him very little that Magneto would find interesting. She'd told him very little at all if he was honest. But he still had one card left to play that would make this whole exercise worthwhile. Maybe he couldn't get Ilehana Xavier for Magneto, but he had an idea Blaze herself would be the more worthy ally.  
  
Blaze fitted her key in the lock with ease, proving she was pretty much sober after all and impressing Gambit with how much the girl could knock back. She toyed with the idea of inviting him in, but decided against it. So instead she turned to him and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek. He twisted his head slightly to make more of it, but she pulled away smiling.  
  
"Good night." She whispered, pulling his trench coat closed around him. "I'll see you again soon." Then the door closed, and she was gone.  
  
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"You gonna sit out here all night?" Wolverine found Ilehana sat on her log, this time in the pensive shape of an over-large tabby cat. Her tail swished from side to side gently as he spoke to her.  
  
**I like it out here. ** She admonished him telepathically. **No noisy kids. **  
  
"Good point." He agreed, relieved to see her begin to shape-shift back into her human form. Talking to a cat was just a little too weird. "So, guess you'll be up and leavin' again then. Now you got your head straightened out an' all."  
  
"That depends." Ilehana spoke quietly, shaking her hair out of her face and re-tying her flaxen locks into her customary ponytail. "On whether anyone can give me a reason to stick around."  
  
"You know the X-Men could use you. Between Magneto, Mystique, the Brotherhood and the Sentinels, not to mention the rest of the world that hates mutants, we need all the help we can get..."  
  
"That's not what I mean." Ilehana muttered, smiling at the mild, even hopeful confusion on Logan's face. She stood and kissed his cheek gently. "Blaze won't thank me if I make her come pick me up this late, so I'll walk home."  
  
"You could stay here." He pointed out but she shook her head.  
  
"Thank you, but no thanks. Hey, don't look so glum Wolverine. I wont be far away..." 


	8. 08

Disclaimer: I do not own and am making no money from the X-Men. Vixen belongs to her creator Corrinth. Blaze is mine. It's that simple.  
  
A/N: Reviews are always welcome (  
  
Scene Eight  
  
"Ilehana Xavier's back in Bayville for her own reasons, nothin' to do with the X-Men. But she don't hate her father or nothin', she been up at the institute more often than not. An' her friend Blaze says Vixen has a t'ing for the Wolverine, so I t'ink she'll be about as willin' to join us as he was."  
  
"Very well." Magneto snarled as his man reported. This was not good news. There must be a way to turn this to his advantage...But Gambit wasn't finished.  
  
"I t'ink you should take a look at Blaze though. She powerful, I know it, an' she has no interest in Xavier's cause. She could be useful."  
  
"And yet she has still to demonstrate that she has any powers other than to wrap you round her little finger." Magneto snapped, turning his back on his man as Pyro sniggered by the door. If Magneto really lost his patience with Gambit, this could be seriously fun to watch.  
  
"I ain't wrapped round nobodies' fingers!" Gambit bit back. "I'se been followin' orders, that's all!"  
  
There was a creak and a groan as a hunk of unformed metal separated itself from the wall of Magneto's metallic lair and flew through the air. It hit Gambit hard across the jaw, knocking him backwards and drawing blood. Pyro laughed aloud, and then held up his hands in an appeasing gesture as his boss glanced his way. Magneto turned back to the fallen Gambit as the Cajun put fingers to the blood on his chin.  
  
"Don't ever speak like that to me again, Gambit. You have two hours. If you haven't proved Blaze's usefulness to me by then, you will do as first ordered and kill her, understand?"  
  
Gambit nodded, eyes falling on Pyro as he quickly formulated a plan. He'd known from the beginning that it would come to this; Blaze must join Magneto or die.  
  
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Blaze shut the fridge with a thud, opened the can of soda with a hiss and kicked a stool out of her way. The apartment was a dump with no Ilehana about to clear up after the spontaneous redhead. Also they were running out of food. Ilehana might think that Blaze ate men for breakfast, but in reality she preferred muesli, and they'd completely run out. Oh well, chores could always wait. Blaze hit the stereo's remote to turn up the volume on her music as the occupant of the room next door banged on the wall again to protest.  
  
She was so busy singing along out of tune to the loud music that she almost mistook the knock on the door for the neighbour complaining. She hit the volume down button and waited for the knock to be repeated, just in case she was hearing things. But no, there it was again, so she ditched the soda and went to answer the summons.  
  
Gambit stood there with blood dripping down his chin, a black eye quickly forming and hand clutching the doorframe in pain. Blaze gasped to see him like this, before hastily pulling him inside by the front of his coat. If someone was after him...  
  
"What happened?" She asked, fetching a cold damp cloth to press to his injured jaw. "Who did this?"  
  
"Some mutants runnin' wild downtown." He answered, wincing as the wound on his jaw stung. "Jus' trashin' the place for no reason."  
  
"And you had to go play the hero and try and stop them?" Blaze's voice was sarcastic, but there was real worry in her eyes. Did she really care about him then? He refused to think about it.  
  
"I know we can, they're jus' some idiots without a cause."  
  
"We? You want me to get involved? In Vixen's words, get stuffed!"  
  
"Blaze..." He took her hand in his, throwing the wet rag away across the room. "I saw you that day at the mall, you taught those high school girls to mind their manners, an' when Xavier's li'l ladies wouldn't do nothin'..."  
  
"Those girls live at the institute? I should've guessed, they had the same know-it-all look Ilehana has." Blaze kept her own council on why Gambit would know Rogue and Kitty, knowing she wouldn't get a straight answer out of him if she asked.  
  
"Yeah. So I know you are capable of teachin' these losers a lesson they wont forget. If you'll help me?"  
  
Blaze shivered involuntarily as he met her eyes. There was something here he just wasn't telling her. But what else could she do?  
  
"Alright, you're on." 


	9. 09

Disclaimer: I do not own and am making no money from the X-Men. Vixen belongs to her creator Corrinth. Blaze is mine. It's that simple.  
  
A/N: Reviews are always welcome (  
  
Scene Nine  
  
Pyro cackled as he set a spectre of fire in the shape of a horse galloping down the street. Behind him, Colossus punched holes in the walls of the warehouse units, metallic skin shimmering in the light of Pyro's flames.  
  
Blaze arrived fractionally behind Gambit, long hair teased into a frenzy by the fire-tormented air. She paused, unsure as Gambit charged a playing card with explosive energy and aimed it at Colossus. The Russian shielded his eyes as the explosion lit up the industrial park like day. Then he attacked.  
  
Blaze left them to it, the maniacal Pyro attracting her attention as he played with fire. The fire wasn't his, what gave him the right? Anger that was born of her power itself ran like wildfire through her nerves. The very flames Pyro bended to his will cried out to her for help, and she offered them all she had.  
  
Pyro blasted out a venomous snake of flames, sent it slithering towards Blaze as if it could harm her. Blaze didn't even hold out an arm to slow its approach. Closing her eyes she shivered, becoming the very fire that was her essence. Bright amber light oozed from her, she was transparent, a creature only of energy. The fire-serpent hit her full pelt and was absorbed. The only acknowledgement Blaze offered Pyro's best effort was a slight gasp as she felt the fires' energy join with her own.  
  
"Uh oh." Pyro muttered. But in the same second a thud from behind was Gambit hitting the wall hard under the influence of Colossus' fist. Blaze glanced back, afraid for his life. He groaned once and was still, watching through part closed eyes as he left Blaze to face off his colleagues alone. He hoped he was right about her.  
  
Now faced with both Colossus and Pyro, Blaze came into her own. Colossus charged, but with energy unbounded Blaze leapt swiftly above his advance. He passed under her as Blaze unleashed a heavy blast of her own firepower, a torrent of white-hot flame that scolded his metal body. Unnerved Colossus ran down Pyro even as Blaze landed again into a catlike crouch. She let the associates untangle themselves before opening up her hot palms and issuing tendrils of fire to wrap around Colossus.  
  
"You think you're strong my friend?" She shouted above the roar of her own power. "Even metal has a melting point!"  
  
There was a sense of complete satisfaction and malicious control that threatened to overwhelm Blaze as she made Colossus cringe and quiver on the filthy floor. But it wasn't who she was, and so she abandoned her efforts, turning instead to Pyro.  
  
"And as for you..." Blaze began, flexing her power as she unleashed fireballs that travelled up the pipe system on Pyro's arms to consume the fuel he carried. The tank on his back exploded suddenly, pelting Pyro twelve feet into the air as he screamed with the force of it. "Don't play with fire unless you know you can never beat me."  
  
Even before Pyro's steaming body hit the earth again with a crunch, there was a whistling overhead as four strange orbs appeared. They landed by Gambit, now back on his feet and smiling charmingly at Blaze.  
  
"I knew you could do it, Chere." He took her hand in his and pulled her close to him. "Now he wants to see you..."  
  
"He?" Blaze scowled, pulling away from Gambit. "So this is what this is all about, you're recruiting me for someone else?"  
  
"No, not recruitin'." Gambit lied through gritted teeth. "My boss only wants to meet you, I swear. Just get in the orb, an' he can give you the sales pitch in no time, okay?"  
  
Blaze turned to eye up the mysterious orbs, noting that there was no emergency exit, no switches or buttons to cause them to open. But then again, they were only metal. She looked back at Gambit.  
  
"Alright." She answered, "But only because I hate not knowing what's going on. Its plain there's more to you than meets the eye, and this seems to be how I'm going to find out what that is..." 


	10. 10

Disclaimer: I do not own and am making no money from the X-Men. Vixen belongs to her creator Corrinth. Blaze is mine. It's that simple.  
  
A/N: Reviews are always welcome (  
  
Scene Ten  
  
"What the heck?" Scott asked of the darkness, noting the scorch marks and soot on the walls and ground before answering his own question. "Pyro."  
  
"But who was he fighting?" Kurt Wagner, Nightcrawler, asked the X-Men team leader. Kurt then teleported swiftly to wrap a prehensile tail around a piece of guttering, swinging over a burning garbage can. "There's a lot of damage here for one fire mutant."  
  
"Colossus has been here too." Jean Grey pointed out the chunks missing from the brick walls. "And Gambit."  
  
"Three outta four ain't bad." Rogue commented, referring to the absence of Logan's old foe Sabretooth. "But why?"  
  
"I think we'll have to satisfy ourselves with the fact that Magneto's cronies are gone now. There don't appear to be any casualties, so we will just have to wait to find out what they are planning." Storm was the eternal voice of reason. Much as the X-Men hated to admit it, they had been too late this time...  
  
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"Ah, welcome, Blaze." Magneto greeted the young woman as the orbs that carried her and Magneto's men opened. They were in a broad and empty room, the far wall of which curved upwards and over like the inside of a soup bowl. Blaze shivered and wrapped her arms around herself as she climbed out of the orb. It was cold here, wherever here was, and she did not like the cold. "I must congratulate you on defeating Pyro and Colossus." Yet the Master of Magnetism's eyes conveyed that he would be having serious words with his men about getting so trounced.  
  
"Thank you." Blaze offered politely, instantly disliking Gambit's boss. Maybe this hadn't been such a good idea after all. "What is all this in aid of?"  
  
"Its simple really." Magneto opened up a palm and beckoned Blaze to him. In well-drilled efficiency Gambit, Pyro and Colossus joined Sabretooth standing to attention, the smug look on Gambit's face only rivalled by Sabretooth's cruel smirk. As Blaze reached Magneto's side, she gasped to see tendrils of metal streaking out from the wall of the dome. Even as Gambit stepped forward to object, they snaked around Blaze's slender form, trapping her wrists and ankles and binding her tiny waist. The seeping metal dragged her back against the wall, slamming her body to be pinned a few inches off the floor. "You are a tool my dear. With you I can draw the daughter of my enemy up here to her doom, weakening him beyond all recognition. Sabretooth, deliver the message."  
  
Sabretooth growled his acceptance and left. Colossus placed a solid hand on Gambit's shoulder as the Cajun's red-on-black eyes narrowed and he pulled a playing card from his pocket. Magneto ignored his man, talking still to Blaze.  
  
"You can feel it, can't you? You must know metal is the greatest conductor. It carries electricity, heat, and cold. Every ounce of your body heat, of your power is being dragged out of you right now through the very nature of the binds that hold you. This huge metal dome is preventing you from focusing your powers enough to melt yourself free." He took Blaze's chin in his hand and forced her to meet his eyes as he watched her shiver. "And more than that, you are weak to cold. Outside there is snow thick on the ground; the air at this altitude is icy and bitter no matter the season. The metal of this dome is feeding that cold into you, chilling the marrow of your bones, making you as feeble as a kitten."  
  
"This wasn't part of the deal, Magneto!" Gambit snapped, pulling away from Colossus' grip.  
  
"No?" Magneto turned his back on Blaze to speak to his man. "What then did you expect? You have fulfilled your orders, Gambit. If in a few days this girl can command such loyalty from a lowly thief, then you have proven that Ilehana Xavier will most certainly come running at her call for help."  
  
"Then you'll let her go?"  
  
"Of course not." Magneto stated, walking towards the door. "So I suggest you say your goodbyes."  
  
Pyro laughed heartily as he followed Magneto and Colossus from the room. Blaze swallowed hard, eyes sharp and cruel as she met Gambit's gaze.  
  
"And here I was," She began with malice in her voice. "Thinking we were playing our games from the same rule book. Who'd have thought I'd be such a fool, I've used your practiced lines, I should've seen through you in seconds..."  
  
"He's stabbed me in the back, Cherie." Gambit began, "I never meant for this to happen."  
  
"Ha!" Blaze laughed heartlessly, glaring at him. "But you'll do nothing about it, will you? You're afraid of him. You're pathetic. Tell me, are you being paid well for betraying your friends? Telling some psycho their every little weakness? Or is it just chance that he knew I'm vulnerable to cold?"  
  
Gambit turned and walked away then. What could he say? Sorry you're about to die? Sorry I've got your friend killed too? Sorry I was too much of an idiot to realise Magneto was playing me as much as I was playing you? It all sounded so...pathetic.  
  
Blaze shivered in a combination of anger and cold as he left. Her teeth chattered. She tried again to melt the metal that bound her, but the heat was dissipating into the dome as fast as she could muster it. Still she had to keep trying, too long strung up like this and she'd not even be able to maintain her own body temperature. She'd freeze to death even before Sabretooth's message reached Ilehana. 


	11. 11

Disclaimer: I do not own and am making no money from the X-Men. Vixen belongs to her creator Corrinth. Blaze is mine. It's that simple.  
  
A/N: Reviews are always welcome (  
  
Scene Eleven  
  
Logan stopped dead in his tracks, just as Nightcrawler teleported to where he thought there would be a space and crashed right into the Wolverine. Kitty and Rogue couldn't help but laugh as Kurt ricochet back off Wolverine and landed in a heap at Ilehana's feet. Vixen rolled her eyes heavily. It had been her father's idea that she spend some time training with the different students at the school, get to know them as individuals not just strange faces in what used to be her home. The students had accepted her without too much of a question, so used to strangers arriving amongst them. But Vixen was finding it all a little unnerving.  
  
"What is it?" She stepped over Kurt to stand by Wolverine's side. He sniffed heavily as Ilehana put out a gentle telepathic questing. The presence she felt was wild and very, very angry.  
  
"Sabretooth." Wolverine snarled. "Stay here."  
  
Ilehana knew the order was meant as much for her as for the students, but then she wasn't an X-Man and as such he had no control over her. Logan didn't complain as Ilehana stepped up to follow him, she was all grown up now; let her see what it was the X-Men were fighting against...  
  
The undergrowth seethed and exploded as Sabretooth appeared. But rather than take on his old enemy Wolverine, Sabretooth craftily sidestepped the charging adimantium-armed mutant. Logan couldn't pull up quick enough, glanced off a tree and spun round to bellow a warning at Vixen. But a strange expression had crossed Xavier's daughter's face, peaceful and curious she probed Sabretooth's mind.  
  
**What is your message? ** She asked having sensed the large, hairy mutant's purpose via her telepathic questing.  
  
**Magneto sends his best, ** Sabretooth growled even through his mind- voice. **Says if you ever want to see your li'l friend Blaze alive again, you'll come to his base alone and within the hour. **  
  
Message delivered, Sabretooth more or less ambled off away from the institute, just as Nightcrawler, Kitty and Rogue had finished their moral deliberations and come running to help. Logan met Vixen's eyes and knew instantly what had just occurred.  
  
"It's a trap." He told her, but Ilehana only nodded.  
  
"I know, but what else can I do? I swear if I get Blaze out of this I am going to skin her alive! Can't she stay out of trouble for two minutes?" Ilehana's exasperated words didn't cover her worry for her friend.  
  
"Is anybody else here thinkin' they're missin' somethin'?" Rogue asked to Kurt's shrug and Kitty's hand-on-hips posturing. "Who's Blaze, why is she in trouble an' why didn't Sabretooth try an' plaster you both just then? Somebody had him neutered or somethin'?"  
  
"Blaze is a friend of mine. She's been kidnapped by Magneto and Sabretooth came to deliver the ransom demands. Basically, he wants me." Ilehana growled as she started back to the mansion. "What do you people know on his hideout? Can I get in easily? How much resistance can I expect to run up against?"  
  
"You're not goin' alone." Wolverine told her. "You want information off of the X-Men, you take one of 'em with you, namely me."  
  
"No Logan." Vixen shot him down. "Magneto won't deal if he sees me with anyone else."  
  
"No problem!" Kurt quipped, teleporting to stand before the two adults. "As the only X-Man to have been inside the lair, I consider it my personal pleasure to get Wolverine in and out without Magneto noticing a thing."  
  
"Not without us you don't." Kitty ran to catch up. "You can't go in alone against Magneto and his men, they're too powerful."  
  
Finally something clicked inside Ilehana as she smiled gratefully at her new pack. These kids her father was raising were brave all right.  
  
"Sound like a plan to you, Ilehana?" Logan asked, shooting a sidelong glance at Vixen.  
  
"I guess so. And thank you."  
  
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"Pyro," Magneto called. "Any sign of the Vixen?"  
  
"Not yet," The fire-mutant replied over the radio form his vantage point above Magneto's snow-bound lair. "No, wait, I see a big cat. Its white and spotty and it looks a bit naffed off."  
  
"A snow leopard." Magneto filled in. "That's Miss Xavier. Get back here."  
  
Pyro did as he was told, snowboarding with ease down to Magnetos' lair as the metallic structure opened to swallow him up. He completely missed Kurt teleporting the X-Men up behind his vantage point, ready for action. 


	12. 12

Disclaimer: I do not own and am making no money from the X-Men. Vixen belongs to her creator Corrinth. Blaze is mine. It's that simple.  
  
A/N: Reviews are always welcome (  
  
Scene Twelve  
  
Ilehana the snow leopard sniffed the cold air and then sneezed. She had completed a quick circuit of the dome, and was convinced that the only way in or out was at Magneto's disposal. Unless of course you were Shadowcat or Nightcrawler... Now as she watched the metal buckled and opened in front of her, beckoning her in as she shifted back into her human form.  
  
Inside all was eerily quiet as the metal closed itself again. She was trapped. The animal inside her longed to panic, but she wouldn't let herself.  
  
"Ilehana Xavier." Magneto spoke from across the room. "And how is my God- daughter?"  
  
"Where's Blaze?" Ilehana refused to acknowledge her relationship to this man. "What have you done to her?"  
  
"She is alive, for the moment. Walk with me." There was danger in his words that dared her to contradict him, but Ilehana was no fool. She did as she was bidden, and Magneto repaid her by continuing to speak. "Here is the deal, Ilehana. You and I both know you can never settle to live in the same house, fight the same fight, as your father's precious Jean Grey. So fight with me instead, for the liberation of all of mutant-kind. In return, I will let Blaze live."  
  
"My hatred of Jean may run deep, but not so deep as I would make such a foolish alliance. But then, you probably already knew that, making this conversation nothing but a formality before you try to have me killed." Ilehana was rewarded for her intelligence by Magneto's cold smile. Sending out telepathic fingers Ilehana tried to learn Blaze's whereabouts from him so that she might pass the information on to the waiting rescue party. "What have you done to yourself that I cannot read your mind?"  
  
Magneto dismissed her question with a wave of his hand, the same wave that brought all four of his minions running to his side.  
  
"Kill her." He ordered them almost inconsequentially. "It will be a worthy challenge for you."  
  
At that precise second Ilehana called out to Wolverine and the others. Nightcrawler teleported all four X-Men to just besides Vixen as Sabretooth growled his approval, finally a proper fight! He didn't wait for Logan to shake off the momentary queasiness that teleporting with Kurt was prone to bring, attacking his old foe with evil ferocity.  
  
Shadowcat eyed up Colossus as warily as he did her. How to hit a girl who couldn't be hit? But Pyro solved that problem for him, setting a fearsome dragon of fire bearing down on Kitty as she ducked and rolled out of harms way. Colossus instead bore down on Rogue, who removed her gloves with a hasty tug and tried to simultaneously avoid the Russian's attack and drain his strength away.  
  
Ilehana growled her disapproval as she recognised Gambit as the man Blaze had spent too much time with recently. He didn't wait for the savage attack of his body and mind he knew was coming, turned and ran for the door like a demon was on his coat tails. Vixen wondered at his cowardice, but at the door he stopped, turned briefly and winked at her. Confused she touched his mind with hers.  
  
**What, traitor? ** She asked, mind voice sharp.  
  
**Follow me. ** Was his only reply as he disappeared out the door. Magneto scowled as he saw briefly what was happening, but even as he raised his hand to command his lair to stop the treacherous thief and the metamorph, a blue poof! of smoke clouded his vision. Nightcrawler planted his hand hard on Magneto's shoulder and teleported the two of them outside into the cold snow.  
  
"Bye now!" The fuzzy blue elf saluted the Master of Magnetism, disappearing back inside the dome to help his friends. Magneto grimaced his displeasure as he plunged three feet to the ground, and then another two almost up to his waist in snow before he could engage the Earth's magnetic field to make himself float. Dusting the snow from his otherwise immaculate outfit, he surged forward, intent on the dome some fifty metres away. 


	13. 13

Disclaimer: I do not own and am making no money from the X-Men. Vixen belongs to her creator Corrinth. Blaze is mine. It's that simple.  
  
A/N: Reviews are always welcome (  
  
Scene Thirteen  
  
"Blaze!" Vixen panicked to see her friend trussed up like a slaughtered animal, head of red curls hanging dejectedly as she had lost consciousness. "Don't you dare die on me!" She challenged, taking the girl's chin in her hands and gasping at how cold she was. For a moment she got no response, but then...  
  
"Hey Vixen." No louder than a whisper, but Blaze forced her eyes open and ran a cold tongue over blue lips. Her pitiful amounts of breath didn't even frost the air.  
  
"Blaze, you gotta get your act together. Melt your way out." Ilehana ordered frantically.  
  
"Can't." Blaze was reduced to single word answers. The room span and she did not even have the strength left to shiver. Gambit came to stand beside Ilehana, taking off his trench coat.  
  
"She's too cold, and the dome is eatin' all the heat she can produce." He filled in, wrapping Blaze up in the coat as best he could. Then he frowned, looking hard at the bonds of metal that held the redhead to the wall. He could do this, but it would be tricky and he couldn't guarantee Blaze's health. Still what other choice did they have? He'd underrated Magneto's cruelty almost as much as he had underestimated his own guilt about his betrayal of Blaze. He couldn't see her die. He raised a single finger to the first shackle.  
  
"What are you doing?" Ilehana snapped, pushing him away from Blaze before he could touch the metal.  
  
"Easy, Cherie, there ain't time for explanations. Read my mind if you have too, but Magneto'll be back any second so I gotta get on with it." Raising his hand again, Gambit resolutely ignored Ilehana's mental probing even though the very thought of a telepath in his head made him feel sick.  
  
Ilehana hunted through Gambit's mind quickly, finding a brewing anger there at Magneto for deceiving him like a fool. He'd help the X-Men now to show his boss he wouldn't stand for these games. Even before he'd charged the first bind, she seemed satisfied and pulled out again. "Blaze," He addressed the girl who somehow found the strength to meet his eyes. "Lift your head and close your eyes. Dis is gonna hurt."  
  
Blaze did as she was told, and bit her lip in readiness for whatever it was he was going to do. Gambit pushed Ilehana back forcefully as the first metal strut exploded, bending back on itself and releasing Blaze's left wrist as she choked on a scream. Her wrist bled from a thousand tiny cuts where fractured metal cut into it, but other than that she seemed okay to Gambit's gingerly touch. Unbidden Ilehana stepped in telepathically to offer Blaze her own strength and comfort. Gambit touched the two ankle straps at the same time, trying to get this over with as quickly as possible for the redhead. They too exploded leaving blood and bruising but no serious injuries.  
  
"Nearly done Chere." Gambit offered his own consolation as he reached for the final two bonds, the ones pinning her right wrist and her waist. But as he did so all hell broke loose. The fighting mutants had dragged their fight this far. The X-Men, apart from Logan who was locked in ferocious combat with Sabretooth, fell back around Ilehana and company. Battered, bruised, scorched and tired Vixen knew that each of the three students had given everything they had. But her telepathy let her know what they did not, that Pyro and Colossus too were close to dropping. The cubs had done well on this hunt.  
  
"Finish it." Vixen growled at the Cajun, morphing smoothly into her favourite form, the sleek grey wolf with black tipped ears. With Vixen armed with tooth and claw by their sides, the X-Men youngsters found renewed strength. Finally Rogue got a finger to Pyro, sucking his power dry as she took his thoughts, energy and memories. Ilehana's sensitive wolf's ears couldn't tell whether Pyro or Rogue screamed the loudest.  
  
Kitty and Nightcrawler joined Vixen in confounding Colossus. He would aim and strike at one of the children as they dared to get too close, but he was not as quick as they were. As they escaped however their powers dictated, Ilehana closed strong, bone-crushing wolf jaws around his metallic arm. She ignored the distaste of something so cold and inorganic in her mouth, forced away the pain of teeth meant for bringing down soft deer slamming onto unresisting metal. All was proved worthwhile as he stopped harassing the X-Men to try and shake Vixen off.  
  
Finally with a roar of triumph, Logan thrust his claws into Sabretooth's ribcage. Shadowcat got to them first, her lightest touch allowing her to drag Sabretooth through the interior wall of the building, leaving him half stranded between one room and the next. Kurt grabbed Colossus as Ilehana gratefully let go and performed the same trick that he had used to dispose of Magneto. He left the heavy Russian floundering in a snowdrift.  
  
Just as the X-Men could claim to be winning, the wall of the dome crept open and Magneto was back. An open palm towards Wolverine sent the mutant with the adimantium skeleton flying across the room, collecting Vixen on the way. Their two bodies slammed into the wall as, bravely or foolishly, Rogue and Kitty jumped their aggressor. Kitty let lose her power, sinking Magneto up to his chest in the very floor of his lair. Rogue was loath to touch the evil man, but the slightest brush of a finger silenced his roar of anger.  
  
Gambit caught Blaze as she slumped grimly into his arms, dropping to one knee on the floor and pulling his coat properly around her. He was aware of the eyes of the X-Men, his enemies, on him as he brushed a strand of Blaze's hair from her face. He couldn't be bothered to care what they thought. He had prevented his misjudgement of Magneto becoming a pointless loss of life. But was it even simpler than that? As Blaze finally stirred in his arms, warmed by his body heat, he had a small inkling it might be...  
  
"We done here?" Kurt asked, looking from the recovering Logan to the now- human Ilehana for leadership.  
  
"Yeah." Logan nodded stiffly. Rogue turned and raised a palm to the metal dome, which opened under her stolen power like a tulip opens to the sun. Kurt and Kitty followed her through it as Logan and Ilehana went to where Gambit now stood with Blaze in his arms.  
  
"Come with us." Ilehana offered as the Cajun dumped Blaze in Logan's arms. He didn't reply, but he didn't need to. This had never been about winning favour with the X-Men. Behind them Magneto was already stirring after Rogue's attack, the ground groaning as he fought to free himself from the metal-ore containing ground. It wouldn't take him long to get free, not long enough for them to all get away anyway. Knowing this Ilehana didn't press Gambit any further. Let him distract Magneto with his insubordination; it could only work to the X-Men's advantage. She left.  
  
Before Logan could whisk Blaze away through the wall of the dome and as way of an apology, Gambit kissed two of his fingertips and pressed them to Blaze's lips. Suddenly hard again he did not even watch them leave, turning back to his boss. Magneto's cold eyes met Gambit's red-on-black ones, both men re-calculating the other as the Earth wretched Magneto out of the ground. Not a word passed between them as Magneto closed Rogue's hole in the dome, turned and walked further into the lair with Gambit shadowing his footsteps. 


	14. 14

Disclaimer: I do not own and am making no money from the X-Men. Vixen belongs to her creator Corrinth. Blaze is mine. ;-P  
  
A/N: Reviews are always welcome ( Hope you have enjoyed my li'l story, sorry to say this is the last chapter, but nothing lasts forever, right? I mean, imagine how boring that story would be!  
  
Scene Fourteen  
  
"Hey Rogue, are you okay? You look like you're gonna explode or somethin'?" Kitty didn't knock as she walked straight through the door into their bedroom and took up her position next to Rogue at the window.  
  
"Huh," Rogue replied. "It's nothin'"  
  
"Well it sure don't look like nothin'" Kitty commented as she followed Rogue's eyes outside to where a curly-haired redhead stood by herself, wrapped up despite the sunny morning in an overlarge trench coat. "Don't you like Blaze or somethin'? I think she's cool, what she did in the mall, that took some guts."  
  
"Its not that..." Rogue countered, increasingly flustered. "Its just..."  
  
"Wait, I get it!" Kitty grinned and snapped her fingers. "Its all about that Gambit, isn't it! Don't tell me you got a crush on him now! Think I should warn Blaze she's got competition?"  
  
"Shut your mouth," Rogue turned on Kitty with ferocity. "Before I shut it for you!"  
  
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
  
Standing alone, still feeling cold despite the warming day and the snug coat around her, Blaze put a hand in a pocket of the donated coat and frowned as her fingers brushed something. She pulled the object out, a single playing card, the ace of hearts.  
  
"I'm useless, aren't I?" She acknowledged Ilehana's approach. "The first bloke I'm actually interested in for ages, and he's a lying, cheating, backstabbing evil minion of the dark lord Magneto..."  
  
"Hey, for you that's an improvement." Vixen teased.  
  
"Is he ok?" Blaze could barely bring herself to ask. She'd been pretty out of it for three days, and everyone had refused to answer her questions until she was back on her feet.  
  
"He's fine." The new voice was male, older and refined, Ilehana's father, Professor Xavier. "And if I know Magneto, Gambit's earned himself a little of the man's respect despite his apparent treachery. Magneto knows now that Gambit will not stand to be pushed around, a quality easily admired."  
  
"So the question is Blaze," Ilehana asked gently, not betraying the internal struggle she had had when this same question was posed to her on their return to the mansion. "Are you going to stand with the X-Men now, join their cause to stop those like Magneto?"  
  
"Are you?" Blaze didn't really need to ask, but she did anyway.  
  
"I guess so." Ilehana smiled at her father, and then included Blaze in that gesture. "But I can't share territory with Jean, not if she wants to be able to sleep at night."  
  
"So we go home now then?" Blaze followed the thread of Ilehana's implications. Ilehana nodded.  
  
"You don't have to decide now either. In fact I suggest you don't. Lets just go back to the apartment and get some breakfast my friend."  
  
Blaze sighed, and then slowly returned the smiles of Xavier senior and junior. She turned the playing card over in her hand, setting in on fire and letting the ash scatter to the four corners of the world.  
  
"But I've already decided." She answered calmly. "I want to join the X-Men, if you'll have me?" Blaze's cheeks flushed slightly as she basked in the telepathic approval of both Xaviers. "Oh, there's one other thing. Can we steal some muesli at all? Only we're fresh out..."  
  
(Roll credits.............) 


End file.
